Holder won't face criminal charges

Saturday

Jun 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 30, 2012 at 10:24 AM

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department declared yesterday that Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to withhold information about a bungled gun-tracking operation from Congress does not constitute a crime, and he won't be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department declared yesterday that Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to withhold information about a bungled gun-tracking operation from Congress does not constitute a crime, and he won’t be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

The House voted Thursday afternoon to find Holder in criminal and civil contempt for refusing to turn over the documents. President Barack Obama had invoked his executive-privilege authority and ordered Holder not to turn over materials about executive-branch deliberations and internal recommendations.

In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester, the department said that it will not take the congressional contempt citation against Holder to a federal grand jury and that it will take no other action to prosecute the attorney general.

Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the decision is in line with long-standing Justice Department practice across administrations of both political parties.

“We will not prosecute an executive-branch official under the contempt–of-Congress statute for withholding subpoenaed documents pursuant to a presidential assertion of executive privilege,” Cole wrote.

In its letter, the department relied in large part on a Justice Department legal opinion crafted during Republican Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Frederick Hill, the spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, said it is regrettable that “the political leadership of the Justice Department” is taking that position. Issa, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, is leading the effort to get the material related to Operation Fast and Furious.